Looking for anybody that is interested in any of the following people:Felice Fortunato Gratobene born 1847 in Lioni, Avellino to Rosa Cavallo, father unknown.No Parents names are known for Rosa Cavallo born circa 1800-1810.Court assigned the surname Gratobene to Felice Fortunato. He married Amata Maria Borreca in Lioni circa 1872-73 they had the following children:Alfonso Gratobene b1874-d1878Francesco Gratobene b 1876-d1878Alfonso Gratobene b 1879- unknownFrancesco Gratobene b 1881- to US-NJ circa 1900. Married Katherine Colonna 1904 under the name of Frank Saballo.This could have been Frank/Francesco trying to use his Mother's name of Cavallo in the US. They had 6 children and then he disappeared.Donato Gratobene b1884-d1893Rosa Gratobene b1888-to US circa 1909. Married Antonio Calbrese 1912 in Newark. NJThey had the following children, Anthony, Patrick, Carmel, Angelina and Antonette.They lived in Hoboken, NJLooking for anyone that has any additional information on the family.

Angelina R. Costabile (nee Calabrese), 86, of Monmouth Beach passed away at Monmouth Medical Center on April 16, 2010. Funeral will be from the Galante Funeral Home, 2800 Morris Ave., Union, on Wednesday at 9 a.m. Funeral Mass will be held at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, Newark, at 10:30 a.m. Entombment will be in the family private mausoleum at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, East Orange. Born in Hoboken, Mrs. Costabile lived in the Ironbound section of Newark and spent her summers in Long Branch before moving to Monmouth Beach four years ago. She worked as a payroll clerk at Bethlehem Steel Co. in Hoboken from 1940 until 1945. Mrs. Costabile was the wife of Anthony J. Costabile Sr.; mother of Anthony Jr. and his wife, Debra, Richard and his wife, Faith, James Costabile, Patricia Molinaro, and the late Pasquale Costabile; sister of the late Anthony and Patrick Calabrese, and Millie and Antoinette; grandmother of James and his wife, Rosanne, James Jr., Krista, Anthony, Tricia, Jennifer, Dane, and Andee; great-grandmother of Nicholas, and aunt of James Calabrese and his wife, Susan. Published in Star-Ledger on April 19, 2010

Suanj, thank you for the obituary. It certainly contains a lot of family information and helps fill out the family as I know it. I appreciate your help. I have gathered the genealogy we have researched on Frank Gratobene and I am printing it out for the family. I haven't found any solid connection between them and Calabrese except for Rosa or with the Soriano family. It would be nice if there were a connection to be found but I am not sure there is one.

I read your post of 23 May on the Lautieri family. (looking for Grandfather). That was great work. Thanks again for this obituary.

Hi Jack,my idea abt obituary found: if it could be possible to contact some descendent of Angelina Calabrese Costabile .. and to ask if someone to remember something abt Francesco/Frank Gratobene... uncle of Angelina... just a idea.... thanks for kind words, regards, suanj

Good idea suanj I didn't think of doing that. Years ago when I first started on my family I connected with descendants of a sister of my great-grandfather. They sent me a picture of my Father and three of his siblings when my Dad was abt 10 years old.I'll let you know what I learn.

Hi Jack, it is just a hope, because I cannot find more abt Francesco... you said that he remained in USA... NJ or NY...? But by some other infos abt him life after the 1918 (marriage year of Francesco Bagarozza with Maria Giuseppina Colonna).. another problem: I cannot find the WWI draft registration card... Francesco was in Newark in 1917.. so the name must be in the database... but no luck.. It is a mystery.... Kind regards, suanj

My great, grandmother was Maria Calabrese (maiden name) never married that I know of. Her daughter, my grandmother was Angela Maria Calabrese Scandiffio & they were both born in Salandra, Italy. Angela (Angelina) & my grandfather Guiseppe (Joseph) Scandiffio were married in Pomarico in 1901 & came to New York that year. She was 15 & a fine seamstress & he was a tailor. She had an uncle who lived in the Boston area but do not know his name. Angela, Joseph & their 3 children (including my father) moved to Toronto, Canada in 1910. I don't know if this Calabrese family is any connection to yours?

Hi Suanj,Last night I started to prepare a letter I intend to mail to Calabrese people mentioned in the obit in NJ. This is a good suggestion you made. I have done it before but forgot about it. Otherwise I think we have done as much as we can for now. Family members always thought that his wife knew where he was. I am hoping that if the letter draws a response I can get information from them about Frank who is Rosa's brother as you know.Concerning the draft records I searched them a lot and the closest I have come is:WWII draft Frank Cavallo (using his mother's name) born 10 Dec 1881, unemployed and living in Brooklyn. Our FRank was born 10 Sep 1881. Maybe he signed using his Mother's name.WWI. Frank Cavallo living in Newark. A mason. born 22 Feb 1880. Date of birth and occupation are wrong.WWI. The only card in the draft on familysearch with the same birth day of 11 Sep 1881 is a Frank Meola living in Paterson, not too far from Newark. He is a barber.

Sandra,thank you for your reply. At this point I don't see a connection but I will keep a record of the information you listed. Antonio Calabrese came from Lioni, Italy. His wife Rosa Gratobene also came from Lioni. I haven't come across any names in my research that connect with the names you mentioned in your post. If I do I will get back to you.Thank you for your interest.Jack

my idea is that he could be your Francesco using other surname and with false data..you know abt that... but this my idea also because, in effects it was really a man with same name and taylor and also coming from Lioni; in 1910 this other man with same name appearing with italian name:1910 United States Federal Census about Fortunato RiccaName: Fortunato Ricca Age in 1910: 26Birth Year: 1884Birthplace: ItalyHome in 1910: Newark Ward 15, Essex, New Jersey Race: WhiteGender: MaleImmigration Year: 1900Relation to Head of House: HeadMarital Status: MarriedSpouse's Name: Giuseppina RiccaFather's Birthplace: ItalyMother's Birthplace: ItalyNeighbors: View others on page

and the other Frank & Catherine Ricco desappearing in the census... in 1930 and 1940 censuses I found just Frank Ricca aka Fortunato Ricca married at Josephine.. he had a normal life... here the birthplace:U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 about Frank RiccaName: Frank RiccaBirth Date: 17 Dec 1883Birth Place: Leona, ItalyResidence: NewarkRace: White

That let me understand that the Frank Ricco on the 1910 census is a different person that used same infos of true Fortunato/Frank Ricca.. the ages of children matching with ages of your Frank and also the wife first name...

Because your Frank used false surname on marriage record, and if my idea and my find are rights, he also used false surname and data on 1910 census... identity piracy... it could be possible that from 1917 or so.. he used another surname again... ?? a identity of another man also coming from Lioni... ???It is a big mystery... Regards, suanj

I am also searching the Calabrese name. I am looking for information on an Angelina Calabrese. She had two daughters, and two sons...the daughter Mary born 1893-1894 (died Philadelphia, PA), married a Felice (Felix) Cori and they lived in Philadelphia, Pa. They were married in 1910 in Philadelphia, Mary was born in the US, but Angelina (mother) came from Italy. Her sons died in a house fire in the 50's, I believe. The other daughter married a Michael Pepe.

Many families who lived around the Cori's came from Abruzzo. I have not found the town (I believe southern Italy) where this Calabrese clan is from.

Karen, Thank you for your post. I will keep the information on your family. When I received the obit of Angelina Calabrese Costabile from Suanj I made numerous efforts to contact the family without any success. The funeral home forwarded a letter to the family for me but wouldn't give me any address. I believe I located the family along the New Jersey shore that was hit by Hurricane Sandy last year and could have been flooded so the family could not live there at that time. There was no phone. A number of other leads also offered nothing. I did hear from a Costabile who lived in western New Jersey near Philadelphia. He told me there was no connection with the family I was looking for and that he had lived and worked in Philadelphia until he retired and moved to New Jersey. So that is the way it stands right now. I keep going back to this family once in awhile and will let you know if anything comes up.Thanks for your interest.Jack

Italians have not invented coffee, yet the passion they have for it makes the rest of world believe they discovered it. Around the end of the sixteen century, it was Venice where coffee was first introduced. Thanks to its trade relationship with the Eastern countries.Initially, coffee was considered...

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